The Next Generation
by wingsgirl1313
Summary: Press was wrong. There would be another generation of Travelers. This is their story. The romance part will come in at a later date.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hola. This is only my second real story. (Oneshots and songfics don't count) Please, I need all the critisim I can get. I know this chapter is a little fillerish, but it's just setting the stage for the fun stuff. Thanks for reading!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable.**

**Claimer: I own Hannah and Tara and the other characters soon to come.**

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Hannah Masen was worried. Last night, her best friend Tara Lence had not shown up at her sweet-sixteen. Tara was loyal and dependable so she either had a very good excuse...or was hurt. Hannah fervently hoped it was not the latter.

Hannah crossed her room and studied a framed photograph of herself and Tara that was taken the summer beforehand. The two girls were polar opposites inlooks and personality. Tall, blonde, and beautiful as a supermodel, Hannah was easily identifiable in her pale blue baby-doll tee. Tara was more subtle. Pale with long, dark hair and an issue with height--or lack thereof--barely reaching five feet two, she was pretty in a real person way. Somehow, though, they were still the best of friends. Mostly, the two lived with their differences or just laughed them off. There was one issue they argued about constantly, though.

Their small town of Samden, Mississippi had just over twenty-thousand people. Hannah loved how you couldn't go to the Wal-Mart and not see someone you knew. Tara claimed that she would simply die if she had to spend the rest of her life in Surburbia.

"I want adventure!" Tara's words rang in her ears. Hannah dialed Tara's number and waited. Once the ringing stopped, Hannah hung up. She didn't leave a message. She had half expected it.

_Tara, I really hope you're getting your adventure_, Hannah thought to herself as much as to her friend.

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Hannah's day proceeded as normal. Sometimes, she could make herself believe that Tara was home sick even though she had never missed a day of school in her life. Sometimes. The normality, however, ended the moment Hannah walked through her own front door. Hannah started when she saw a woman sitting calmly in her father's favorite armchair. But then, stragely, she was soothed. The woman just had an aura about her.

The woman stood and walked to face Hannah. Her movements were fluid and graceful.

"Hannah," she said softly, almost a whisper, "Tara asked me to give this to you. You will understand soon." And with that, the woman moved past her and out of Hannah's home. Hannah stood stock still for a few moments, blinking slowly. Hannah realized that her fist was clenched around a small circular object. The memory of the dark, and beautiful woman in her mind, Hannah stared at the object lying in her open palm. It was a silver ring with a gray stone set in the center. _Why would Tara want me to have this?_

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That night, Hannah was awakened by flashing lights and music. Groggily, she opened her eyes, only to fall off her bed in shock. THe ring which she had placed on her bedside table had grown roughly to the size of a frizbee and was emiting some kind of strange light. A jumble of musical notes was pouring forth.

"Holy crap!" Hannah cried as she crawled backward, never taking her eyes off the spectacle before her. And just as suddenly as it came, the show was over. And lying next to the ring, was a stack of printer paper.

Gingerly, Hannah approached the ring and sheaf of papers. Nothing else strange happened, so she picked up the stack of papers. In the dim glow from the hallway light, Hannah thought she could see some sort of type on them. She switched on a lamp so that she could see more clearly. The paper was odd, not like regular paper. It was softer and more of a beige color than white. Hannah frowned and began to read.

"Hannah," she read softly to herself. "When I told you I wanted adventure, I never meant like this..."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Whoohoo! We finally get to the exciting part!**

Hannah, yesterday when I told you I wanted adventure, I never meant like this. Was it yesterday? I have no idea. In fact, I have no idea where I am! Or when I am! Or how I got here! My only consolation is that my Uncle Pendragon was here with me, even for a short while. And trust me when I say the comfort is small. Very, very small.

I guess all I can do is start from the beginning. Hold on tight, because my first day on the job was pretty exciting. (You'll understand that in a bit.)

My day started out pretty normally I guess. I mean, I woke up, got dressed, you get the picture. But trust me, it was anything but normal. The weird started around, oh say, two o'clock when the doorbell rang. I wasn't expecting anyone, so I let it go. But the bell rang again. And again. And again until I finally answered the doorl.

I pulled the door open with a little more force than necessary. "What?" I barked without looking at the annoying doorbell ringer.

"Now is that any way to treat your uncle?" a farmiliar voice asked playfully. I looked upward, and my green eyes met his brown ones. My Uncle Pendragon was leaning against the entryway with a big smile. Now, my uncle Pendragon's pretty cool. You know, the man in the black motorcycle jacket with the shaggy brown hair? Growing up, he always did cool things with me. In fact, he was the one who taught me how to drive a stick shift.

"Hey, Uncle Pendragon," I siad, smiling genuinly. Suddenly, he was all business. It was odd.

"Are your parents home?" he asked me abruptly. I frowned. This was not going somewhere I liked. I thought about the answer. I had a feeling that it would have very big implications in the future.

"No," I told him after a long pause. What was I going to say? I couldn't lie, though now I'm wishing I had.

"Good. Throw on a jacket. It gets chilly where we're going." What. The. Hell. Did he think I was just going to drive off with him with no explination? I needed a reason, or I was going no where.

"Woah! You can't just ass--"

"Yeah, I can. C'mon, Tara. Some people need our help." His voice became calm and soothing. It made me nervous. That was the kind of voice that asked you to jump off a cliff--and you did it.

"I..." Yeah, I know. Lame. But I was having trouble coming up with a coherant sentence. Then, I thought, why was I fighting this so hard! This was my adventure! I thought for a moment. "Let me grab my sweatshirt."

So two hours later, we were still in his car. It was very schamcy. I was getting nervous again. The radio was tuned into some news station.

"Where are we going? When are we getting there?" I repeated the chorus of every five year old when I couldn't take another moment.

"Stony Brook, Conneticut. Six hours, traffic permitting." He didn't sound angry or anything. He might as well ahve said that we were driving to the grocery store or something equally normal. But this wasn't normal!

"Conneticut. Six hours," I repeated under my breath.

"That's what I said, isn't it?" Wow, this guy had good hearing. "Don't worry. You trust me, don't you, Tara?" Woah, loaded question. Did I trust him? Well, at least partly because I was letting him drag me halfway across the country.

"Somewhat," Well, it was the truth.

Uncle Pendragon smiled. "Good answer."

The next few hours passed uneventfully. That is, until about an hour before we arrived. I was watching the sunset through my window. It was a nice one. Rosy pink and orange and purple all streaked together. Maybe that was a good omen. Maybe everything was gonna be okay.

"Uncle Pendragon," I began hesitantly. "What's the real reason we're on our way to Rocky Creek or whatever?"

"Stony Brook," he corrected me absentmindedly. "Tara, you and I are Travelers--"

"No, kidding. We just spent seven hours and counting in a car."

He smiled wrly. "Not that kind of traveler. We're _Travelers_. Or, more accurately, I am. You will be soon."

"Huh," I murmured. "That makes absolutely no sense."

"It will soon," he told me confidently. Too confidently.

"Why do I have the feeling I'm not going to like this?" I asked apprehensively. At this, he laughed. Really and truly laughed. It was a nice sound.

"Because you won't," he managed to say through his laughter.

"Oh,"

We arrived in Stony Brook right on schedule. Uncle Pendragon began to make his way through some suburbian neighborhoods. Finally, he stopped in front of an old house. It was nice, but some of the parts didn't match, like it had been renovated several times. A man and a woman stepped out of the front door holding hands.

The woman was tall with mousy brown hair that reached her shoulders. The man was about average height, and he had the biggest smile.

"Bobby!" the man cried. The two met halfway up the driveway and hugged. The woman wasn't far behind with open arms.

After the hug fest was over, Uncle Pendragon introduced me to the couple. The man was Mark, the woman, Courtney. We stayed for dinner. Uncle Pendragon ate like it was his last meal. Mark and Courtney kept sending me these odd, pitying looks. All too soon, I knew why.

I was only half listening to the conversation. You know how long periods in a car wear me out. Uncle Pendragon said something. Then, I realized it was directed towards me. Oops.

"Sorry," I said. "What was that?"

"We're leaving tomorrow," Uncle Pendragon repeated. I restrained a groam.

"Aren't we there?" I asked. How long was I expected to keep this up?

"Far from it." The adults all laughed like it was some inside joke. O-kay... Suddenly, I heard snarling from the basement. A loud banging accompanied it, like large somethings were being slammed against the door.

"Quigs," the three said as one. I didn't like the sound of that.

"What are Quigs?" No one answered me. This was going somewhere very bad, very fast.

"I'll go get the mace," Courtney said, calmly walking out the room. She returned with four cannisters which she distributed accordingly. For some reason, the cool metal felt heavy in my hands. I swallowed hard.

"We're not going to need these?" Again, my question fell on deaf ears. The snarling grew louder, the thumps more frantic. "Are we?" But I knew the answer already.

"Tara, we don't have much time so listen to me. In the basement--"

I cut Uncle Pendragon off. "But that's where those Quig-things are!" I shouted.

"Not for long," said Mark. He expertly twirled the cannister in his hand to illustrate his point.

"In the basement is a door with a star cut into it," Uncle Pendragon continued. "I want you to enter it and shout 'Third Earth.' Can you do that?" I nodded. For some reason, the three adults seemed very caml until...

"Training your protegee, are we Pendragon?" a chilling voice asked from the doorway. Everyone tensed, and I soon saw why. Standing in the doorway was a tall man. And I mean _tall_. He was bald and had these lighting-like red scars running down his head. It was all pretty frightning. And then I looked into his eyes. They were icy blue, almost white, but it was the hatred, the malice that really and truly terrified me. I would have turned around and ran, if it hadn't been for the fear that paralyzed me.

The man caught my gaze and gave me this little knowing smile. "I see your uncle has not told you about me. I am Saint Dane." He gave a little bow. That's when I noticed that he was wearing a gun holster.

This, I concluded, was _most definiatetly_ not good.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pendragon or anything recognizable.**

**Claimer: Thus far, I own Tara and Hannah.**

**A/N: Sorry it's so short. Chapter two was a lot longer than I normally write. The orriginal plan was for every chapter to be that long, but it's just not me. Sorry if that's what you're expecting. Also, I'm going to have to go back and do a little editing on the earlier chapters, for obvious reasons once you read the chapter.**

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That's when everything went downhill. When I noticed the gun holster, I mean. The adults began to slowly back up, like you're supposed to do with a wild animal. I wanted to run. I wanted to turn around, and run screaming all the way home.

But I knew I couldn't. Don't ask me how, I just knew. I also knew that some of us, if not all, weren't coming out alive.

"You know what my mistake was with you, Pendragon?" asked Saint Dane, slowly and casually pulling out the gun.

"I'm sure you'll tell me," replied Uncle Pendragon. He seemed to ooze confidence, despite the situation. He was like, oh yeah, you've got a gun. How nice for you. I, on the other hand, was totally freaking out. Breathing was about the only thing I was capable of doing, and even that was hard and forced.

"My mistake," the evil man hissed, "was that I didn't just kill you from the start." I saw my Uncle Pendragon's eyes widen a hair. The motion was so small, I might have imagined it. But I don't think I did. Because he knew what was coming. I think, at that moment, we all did.

The gun went off. All I can say was that Uncle Pendragon's death was short and as merciful as gold-blooded murder can be. I doubt he felt any pain. I think I went into shock. I just stared at the place where blood was welling out of his chest. I'm shaking just writing about that moment. I sucked in a deep breath, ready to scream for all I was worth and alert the neighbors and anybody within a ten mile radius.

Courtney grabbed my hand. "Don't," she whispered. I looked up to see a single tear roll down her cheek.

"Monster!" Mark yelled, raising the can of Mace.

"Why thank you," said Saint Dane, pretending to be flattered. I noticed a tugging on my hand. I looked up at Courtney's frightened face. Witout looking at me, she jerked her head towards one of the doors. I understood her perfectly. _On my signal, run._

"Now, I'm a reasonable man. Mark, Courtney, you are not Travelers. You can leave at any time." The gun's barrel swung my way. I felt a cold, hard lump settle in the pit of my stomach.

"Over my dead body," Mark growled, taking a bold step forward.

"Well, if you insist," Saint Dane murmured, almost regretfully. The gun swung again.

This time, I did scream.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I had no idea how short this was when I first wrote it. Chapter five will be longer, I promise.**

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"C'mon!" Courtney shouted, pulling me roughtly out the room. I pretended not to notice the tears streaking down her cheeks. I did my best to keep my own emotions in check. There would be time to cry when we weren't being chased by a cold-blooded killer.

"Uncle Pendragon said something about a basement," I prompted. We had to move faster.

"Right," she said and broke into a sprint towards a small staircase. I matched her pace, and we took the stairs three at a time. We reached a small cellar. The light was already on. I reasoned that this was either a good sign--or very a very bad one. I fervently hoped for the first.

"Now notice this star," she commanded. "It's very important. It's the sign that will be on or near the door of a flume." She jabbed the carving with her forefinger for emphasis. It was a simple, five pointed star. I didn't see how it could be important.

"Right. Lovely. Now what is a flume?" I was getting annoyed. Wasn't anybody going to tell me anything? Heavy footsteps descended the stairs. I met her gaze. Courtney's grey eyes were filled with icy determination.

She opened the wooden door. "No time," she barked, shoving me in. Courtney quickly joined me. Together, we pressed against the door. "Now shout Third Earth. I'll keep the door closed." She grunted as something struck the back of the door. The maniacal barking began again.

"Third Earth!" I yelled as loudly as I could. At that precise moment, all hell broke loose. For the first time, I noticed we were in a tunnel. It looked hand-carved. But the walls begam to shift into a clear crystal. It was beautiful. A light was rapidly approaching. The light carried a jumble of musical notes with it. The notes didn't make music, there was no pattern, but it was oddly soothing.

"C-Courtney..." I stuttered. For some reason, that stutter made fresh tears leak from her eyes. The light was almost upon us. Almost on instict, I grabbed Courtney's hand.

Together, we were sucked in.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry this chapter was so long coming. I hope it lives up to the wait.**

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Hannah, I will tell you one thing, that flume was pretty damn cool. We floated along on this little cushion of air. The light was always just ahead of us, guiding us on our way to...where? The walls were crystal clear, no pun intended. Through them I could see stars. I kid you not. Honest to God stars. Do you remember that time we drove out to the middle of nowhere to see that meteor shower? Do you remember how many stars there were? We could see every star in the sky. Well, there were more outside the walls of that flume. Hundreds of thousands more. After a moment, I gave up trying to find a constalation I knew. Courtney floated along beside me, understandably silent.

She must have noticed me staring at the stars because she said, "There used to be phantom images which floated amoung the stars. They depicted what was happening during the turning point of a territory, and later, Halla." Ummm...huh? What the hell was she talking about? I had no idea what a territory was. Or Halla, or turning point. It was weird.

I barely heard her tag onto the end, "Bobby was supposed to do this." It was spoken almost too quietly for me to hear. I don't think I was supposed to hear it, but I did anyway. Courtney hugged her knees to her chest, and I felt tears pricking my eyes.

I told myself I was being silly and stupid for missing what I never had. But her words made me realize that Uncle Pendragon was supposed to have been my mentor, and now I was without. Besides, I had seen two men brutally murdered--one, possibly two, on my behalf. It was enough to make anybody cry. To save face, I asked, "So what is a territory, and what is its turning point? Also, what is Halla?"

"Those are questioned better answered by a Traveler," she said. "We'll be on Third Earth soon. You can speak to Patrick there." What? Why did she totally avoid the question.

Okay, I was pissed. I knew she knew, and I wanted answers right then. "What the hell is up with ya'll not telling me anything? First Uncle Pendragon and now you! If you're going to pull me into this mess, fine, but at least tell me why!" I probably sounded like a spoiled brat, and I instantly regretted my words. But I didn't take them back. And it wasn't just because I couldn't. They kept calling me a "Traveler." I had a right to know just what that was.

"The whole story," Courtney said, giving me a sidelong glance. Her words told me the weight and severity of what I had asked.

"Yes, the whole story," I repeated, looking her straight in the eye. I tried not to let my fear show.

"Very well then, but soon you'll wish you hadn't asked. To answer your first question, territories are separate worlds. They are not different planets, but different WORLDS altogether. The only way to travel between them is by flume." She spread her arms wide and nodded at the walls of the flume for emphasis.

"Travelers are the only ones who can travel between the flumes, but they can take non-Travelers with them if they so choose. If someone other than a Traveler uses them, the results are disasterous. I've seen that firstand." Her last sentence came out quiet and strained. I had no doubt that she had. I wanted to say something, but feared that if I did, she would stop talking. So I sat quietly and drank in her every word like a good little girl. As you can guess, Hannah, that didn't last too long.

"The turning point is the moment in the territor's history that will either push it into peace and prosperity or death and destruction," Courtney continued. "Travelers work for the first. Saint Dane--the guy who attacked us--and his partern, Nevva Winter, work for the second."

"There are two of them!" I exclaimed, unable to remain silent a moment longer. Yeah, big surprise there. Courtney nodded grimly.

"So it would seem," she murmured. "So it would seem."

The musical notes began again. Courtney smiled, but there was no joy in it. Only steely determination. "So now the fun begins," she said, flashing me that steely smile. The words sent shivers crawling up and down my spine.

"Joy," I muttered. I was smart enough to know that whatever was going to happen was going to be anything but fun.

We were deposited in a flash of light which receeded just as quickly as it came. Courtney tossed something at me. I looked down to see jeans, a green t-shirt, and a denim jacket. In fact, it wasn't all that different from what I was wearing now.

"Change into those," said Courtney, gesturing to the stack of clothing in my arms. "It's best not to mix items from the territories." She turned her back to me and began undressing. "Oh," she said with a laugh. "And you can keep your underwear." I had no idea why this was funny, so I just did as she asked. It must have been an inside joke. If it was, it was a lame one.

"What about shoes?" I asked, turning to face her when we were both modest. She just smiled and tossed a pair of brown doughnut like things at me. I watched as she placed her feet into white ones. The objects conformed to her feet to form a pair of tennis shoes. I did the same. The shoes shrank and formed a pair of canvas sneakers that fit me perfectly.

"That's amazing!" I shouted.

"Tara, you haven't seen anything yet. Welcome to the year 5043," she told me with a smile.

5043?!? No way. No. Freakin. Way.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry it was so long coming. I'm home sick today so I had time to try to overcome my writer's block. This is one of the longer chapters. You even get to meet another Traveler!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pendragon or any recognizable characters. I have a blanket disclaimer in my profile, but I figure this won't hurt.**

**Claimer: I own Tara and Hannah. I also own Zachin, but he's only mentioned here.**

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I stared at Courtney in something that could only be described as complete and total shock. I think my jaw hit the floor. The joke had gone too far.

"Y-you're kidding me, right?" I managed to stutter out after a moment. Courtney was digging around in her jacket pocket and didn't appear to hear me. "You're kidding. You're joking? You're not joking? Come on, Courtney! Talk to me!" Courtney still didn't hear me. She apparently found what she was looking for because she pulled a small silver device out of her pocket and mashed a giant green button in the center of it.

"Patrick will be here in a few minutes. We'd better go outside and wait for him," she told me.

"Is that all you've got to say to me? Aren't you going to explain to me about how we ended up in the year 5043?" I shouted. Wow, I had been shouting a lot. I only just realized that as I'm writing it down. I guess that's what these journals are for. Back to the story.

"Once we step outside of this tunnel, you'll have all the explaining you need," Courtney told me. "And if you'd stop yelling at me," (told you) "maybe we'd get along a little better." Well, we hadn't had _problems_ so far, but she had a point. We were in this together. Whether I liked it or not.

"Sorry, Courtney," I muttered. I hated admitting that I was wrong. She smiled at me and nodded. Her message was clear. I was forgiven.

"Let's go wait for Patrick," she said casually to tell me that everything was forgiven. Then her face fell. I had no doubt about what she was thinking about. I was thinking about them, too. Uncle Pendragon should have been there with me, and Mark should have been back in Stony Brook with Courtney. It was upsetting.

Courtney pushed open the door to the outside world. "After you," she said. I took a deep breath and began to wonder about what the future was going to be like. I had little doubt that the human race had screwed itself over. I imaginied skyscrapers thousands of stories high and not a tree to be seen for miles. I imagined nuclear wastelands. I imagined cities that had been ravaged by bio-warfare. I imagined populations of half-dead, hateful, spiteful people with no hope for their futures. That was the saddest image, to be honest. What separates humans from other animals is the ability to think and reason and _hope_. I took another deep breath. Whatever the future contained, I couldn't delay it by standing in the middle of the tunnel like an idiot. With yet another deep breath, I stepped out of that flume and into the future.

Hannah, the future is clean. I don't mean slang clean, I mean _clean _clean. Everything in the old subway tunnel was beautiful and pristine and, as I already said, clean. The subway tunnel was white and the wall had a beautiful mosaic done up in very mellow blues and greens and even a few purples. The subway rails had been replaced with a single raised bar. I had to stop and stare before I realized that it was a monorail train. I then remembered that there had been talk of replacing subways in Japan with monorails. I guess they replaced regular trains all over the place. It was all a little Disney-esque to be honest. Well, since Disney World was the happiest place on Earth, I started to have hope that we finally got things right. My visions of nuclear wastelands and nothing but skyscrapers disappeared. I smiled and took a deep breath. I didn't smell oil. That was a good sign. Or maybe not...maybe we had run out...

Courtney gently shut the door behind me and led me to a small staircase. We climbed it and nto a platform. For some reason, a railing was set up in the middle of the subway/monorail platform. Courtney nodded to the rail as if to give me permision. I rolled my eyes, but approached the rail anyway. Sometimes curriousity kills off pride. What I saw literally stole my breath away. There was an entire city _underground_! I smiled when I saw that everyone was getting along. We had gotten it right. There was no more prejudice. I thought about that guy your dad made you break up with because he was black, Hannah. Well, here there were inter-racial couples, friends, everything! Don't get me wrong, there were some clear cultural differences, but nobody seemed to mind them. It was amazing.

I turned back to Courtney to catch her wiping her eyes. I didn't blame her. I noticed an escalator that led up and out of the subway platform. There were more escalators that led downward--undoubtably to the city below us. A man in his early fourties headed down the staircase. It was unusual because not many people were down here. My best guess was that it was the middle of the day so most people were at work. The man had on a blue button down shirt, and a pair of jeans. He had curly brown hair with just a few grey hairs. At home I wouldn't have thought anything unusual upon seeing this man. But Courtney raised an arm and waved at him. The man frowned at her and made his way over. I reached her first and waited with her.

"Courtney," he said. His voice was deep and pleasant. "Where's Pendragon?" I stiffend, fearing that she would break down. I knew I would soon. The tell-tale tears pricked the back of my eyes again.

"We'll explain somewhere more private," Courtney said. Both of their voices were lowered and had a sense of urgency. "Is Loor here yet?"

"Yes, and her son Zachin as well," Patrick replied. Loor and Zachin. Those were odd names. I was struck with a sense that I was no longer at home. The sense was only about to get stronger.

Finally remembering me, Courtney gestured to me and said, "This is Tara. She's Bobby's neice." Patrick's eyes fell on me. He obviously sized me up. I straightened to my full five foot three inches with shoes. For some reason, it was very important that I measured up to him. At least it seemed that way to me. Courtney leaned towards Patrick and whispered something that I couldn't hear. He nodded in response to her comment.

"We'd best go to my library room," Patrick finally said. "The others are waiting for us there."

I smiled. I was accepted by these strange people. Now I had to figure out if it was a good thing.

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**P.S. Zachin is pronounced Zak-in. The "ch" makes the hard "k" sound. Now press that little blue button. You know you want to!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Whoohoo! Two chapters in one week! You must feel lucky. Don't. I used to update stories every three days. Sucks for you, now doesn't it.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Pedragon.**

**Claimer: I do own Tara, Hannah, and Zachin. AND THE EMAIL DJ MACHALE REPLIED TO!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**A/N2: Just a little hyper...too much sweet tea and an email reply from your favorite author will do that.**

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Outside the used-to-be-subway tunnel was just as amazing. There were green, rolling hills everywhere. There was a good amount of trees, too. There was an odd scent in the air. It reminded me of when our families went skiing. Then I remembered. It was pine. 

"Where are we? We can't be in Connecticut anymore," I asked Patrick. He and Courtney laughed.

"Well, that's most definately true," laughed Patrick. "We're in Brooklyn," he finished. I did a slow three-sixty. I don't know how much things can change in five thousand years, but this most definately was not New York City. I wanted to say as much, but I figured that it would just show my ignorance of this new world Courtney and I had landed in. We walked along a little twisting path that followed the landscape instead of cutting through it. There were green buildings everywhere. Patrick explained that these were apartment buildings. They faded into the landscape perfectly.

We finally reached our destination. It was a small vehicle. It was slightly larger than a golf-cart. Patrick and Courtney jumped in immediately, and I followed suit. When the car started up, it was _quiet_. I'd never heard an engine that quiet. Even my older brother Bryce's electric hybrid wasn't this quiet. Patrick's car made no noise other than a very low humming noise. He and Courtney were talking quietly in the front, so I just sat in the back and gawked at the future.

We parked in front of a stone building. It looked familiar for some reason. There were giant stone lions standing guard over the entrance. Patrick politely held the door open for Courtney and me. There was a display of some sort in the center of the entrance hall. It was a book. No, it wasn't a bible, or some other great classic. It was _Green Eggs and Ham_ by Dr. freakin' Seuss. Patrick walked up behind me and studied the display.

"When they were replacing books with computer chips, they took a pole to find out what everyone's favorite book was. Turn's out it was _Green Eggs and Ham_," he said quietly. I wondered why he spoke quietly, but I then remembered that it was a library. Oh, yeah, you read right. There were no books anywhere except the display. There were a ton of computers, though. Everywhere, people were reading off very fancy looking flat screen desktop computers. I saw some people lounging around on very soft looking leather couches. Patrick later explained that it wasn't real leather, just very good imitation.

He led us into a back room. I noticed people were already sitting in the room, waiting. One was a woman who looked to be around fourty. She had dark, almost black, skin. If we were at home, I'd say she was African. She was absolutely beautiful. She was also completely and totally ripped. She was literally one-hundred percent muscle. A boy of around fifteen sat next to her. His skin was slightly lighter than hers, but he wasn't near as muscular. He had grey eyes that shone with intelligence. The woman's eyes narrowed when she looked at Courtney. I couldn't tell what silently passed between them, but whatever it was, the black woman didn't look happy.

The room had one last attribute, but it was the oddest feature by far. There was a giant platform in the center. Next to it was an office chair with a pannel of buttons. I wondered what it did, but I didn't worry about it too much. There were way too many important issues to discuss.

Patrick introduced Courtney and me to the woman and boy. The woman stood up and offered her hand. I accepted, and we shook hands. "I am Loor," she said. "This is my son, Zachin." The boy nodded, but didn't stand up. I searched their faces, but there was very little resemblance between the two.

"Now to business," Patrick said evenly. Loor sat back down on the couch, and Courtney and I sat in a pair of arm chairs. All of the seating faced the platform for some reason. "Courtney, its time for you to explain why you're here and not Pendragon." Uhhh...he's dead. I doubt that was how Courtney was going to phrase it, though. I, hoping I wouldn't be called on to explain, did my best to disappear into the armchair's ample cushins.

"We were attacked by Saint Dane near the flume. Bobby and Mark...didn't make it," she said very quietly. Loor looked like she'd been physically slapped across the face. Patrick staggered backwards and sat down heavily in the office chair.

Loor broke the awkward silence. "Pendragon was a great warrior and an even better friend. He will be missed." Wow, Uncle Pendragon was a warrior? How much did I not know about this mysterious uncle of mine? Patrick and Courtney nodded. Zachin looked indifferent.

"Zachin, Tara, please leave the room for a moment. We have important issues to discuss," Courtney said. Well, duh. Understatement of the year. From what I had heard, Travelers had a lot of "important issues".

"Whatever," I muttered as I stormed out of the room. Trust me, I'm good at it. I slammed the door behind me. Hard. I hated being left out of important matters like that. It hurt. Fuming, I stood next to Zachin just outside of the door.

"You did not need to get upset like that. We are young. They must discuss these issues without us for the time," he said calmly. I raised my eyebrows at him. He was right. He was completely and totally right. And something told me that we were going to be working together for a long time, so I didn't want to annoy him.

"Sure," I said. "It's just, a lot has happened in a few hours. I'm gonna go outside for a bit," I said. I found that as I made up this excuse, it was true. How odd.

"People from your territories seem to like this," he said, offering me a piece of gum. It was an incredibly sweet gesture. "I do not know why." I smiled.

"Thanks, Zachin," I said, taking the piece of gum. I started to walk away, but turned around to say one more thing. "You know, you're alright." I saw him smile before I turned around and made my way out of the library. I unwrapped the piece of gum, and idly threw the wrapper to the ground. I know, I know, it's a bad habit, Hannah, but as I said, it's a habit.

"Hey, you!" I heard a guy's voice yell. I looked around, but I was the only one outside. "No littering! It's the law!" Law? Great, now I was going to get a fine. Perfect. I sighed.

"How much?" I asked without looking at the guy.

"It's not a fine. You have to come to the station with me."

Crap.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Before we get the chapter started, I just want to say I'm a little disappointed in the reviews from the last chapter. Oh wait, THERE WERE NONE!!! I'm not a review stickler; I don't mind if I only get one or two per chapter, but please REVIEW FOR GOD'S SAKE!!! **

**Sorry, I hate it when other writers do this, so I guess I've just annoyed you all. **

* * *

"You've got to be kidding me," I muttered. Welcome to the future. Home of the people afraid of a gum wrapper on the sidewalk. This officially sucked. I let the man lead me towards a small blue car. I guess I wasn't a dangerous criminal because I rode shotgum. His car was small and blue. In fact, it looked a lot like Patrick's car. I guessed this was the Sedan of 5043. Or Volkswagon. Either way, we rode in silence for the duration of the ride. 

The officer helped me out of the car. As we walked into a green building that looked a lot like all the others, I discretely tried to examine the officer. At least, I think he was a police officer. He was an average-sized man. Actually, everything about him was average. His looks, his hair length, his mild personality. Everything. He had mid-length brown hair and brown eyes. He looked like a really nice guy. Too bad he had to catch me littering. I guess he was just doing his job.

"Why don't you call your folks? Get 'em to come pick you up," he said. His voice had an unfamiliar drawl. I smiled; he sounded a little like he was from the South. But my smile quickly faded when I remembered that I had no idea how to get hold of anybody around here. I couldn't call Patrick or Loor or Zachin. Courtney wasn't even from 5043.

"I don't know my...cousin's number, officer," I said softly without looking at him. I knew I was blushing. I couldn't help it.

"Alright, cell phones are almost obsolete anyway. What's yer cousin's email address?" He obviously saw my expression even though I had been trying to hide my face with a long curtain of dark hair. "You don't know that either?" Obviously embarassed, I shook my head. The police officer or whatever he was was obviously not very happy with this development.

"I'm from out of town." Well, ain't that the truth, I thought as I said it. I doubted anybody came from farther away. Then again, Courtney came from Connecticut, and I had a strange feeling Loor and Zachin weren't from New York.

"Well, I won't throw yah in a cell. Please jus' sit in one of those chairs and wait until some'un picks yeh up, then," he said, pointing to a small cluster of plastic chairs that faced the big desk in the center of the room. I also noticed that his Southern accent was getting worse and worse. Still hanging my head, I shuffled over to the chairs. They were a lot more comfortable than the chairs back home.

I waited in torture for a good twenty minutes. I wondered when Patrick was going to come get me. Then, I heard the footsteps of somebody entering the station. I heard hushed voices. I looked up to see a boy of around sixteen or seventeen discussing something with the police officer.

"Yes, Porping. I'm sorry my cousin wandered off," I heard the boy say. I stood up and made my way over to the two. They were obviously discussing my future, so I obviously had a right to eavesdrop. At least, that's what I told myself. "So I'll just take her on home now," the boy continued. He flipped a lock of shaggy, jet-black hair from his eyes. He looked down at me. His eyes were incredibly blue and clear. My breath caught in my throat.

"Ready to go, Tara?" he asked. Sure, I was ready to go with him. I'd go anywhere with him. He was _great_-looking. He had strong features. He looked a little like a skater kid from back home. He had on a black t-shirt and ripped jeans. It looked great on him.

"Thanks for finding her, Alex. I was starting to worry," said the officer--Porping. "Just make sure she knows where to put her trash next time."

Alex. I kinda liked the sound of that.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for not waiting for your reply, Porping. I just got the itch to write this.**

**To everyone, the chapters will be coming quicker now that I'm where I want to be. No more two week waits.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry, this one isn't as long as some, but it is longer than a few, so that's something. And to the person that thought Alex was Saint Dane (I forgot your penname), you're about to get your answer.**

**Disclaimer: Yeah, I didn't own it last chapter, so why should I own it on this one?**

**Claimer: I own Tara, Alex, and Zachin**.

* * *

Together we walked outside into the sunshine. We walked strolled at a leisurely pace away from the station. I turned around to see that it had faded from sight. That was when I decided to act. I stopped dead in my tracks and turned to face this Alex guy.

"Alright. Who the hell are you?" I snapped.

He had continued walking even when I had stopped, but now he turned around. He slowly walked up to me. "I'm not Saint Dane if that's what you think," he told me very matter-of-factly. That threw me for a loop.

"Why would you be Saint Dane? He's an old guy. You can't be older than eighteen."

"I'll be seventeen next month. And you obviously don't know much about Saint Dane. Don't you know he can shape shift?" Alex asked me. Um, huh? Shape shifting? Since when was that real outside of fantasy and science fiction novels? He obviously noticed my confusion.

"You didn't know?" I shook my head. "Alright, it's not a big deal. Just how long have you been a Traveler anyway?"

"Honestly?" I asked with a laugh. "Less than five hours."

"Really?" he laughed. And suddenly, the tension dissolved. We walked back to the library, talking like old friends. The two or three mile walk didn't seem to take long at all. We talked about our lives, and we talked about school; we basically talked about anything normal teenagers would talk about. But every now and then, I would be shocked out of the normalacy with a futuristic marvel. A lot of people rode around on these weird little two-wheeled scooter-like things.

We reached the library steps. Suddenly, a thought hit me. "Hey, Alex? How'd you know to come find me?"

"Patrick's my uncle. We started to get worried about you, so he sent me to look."

"Really?" I asked, intrigued. "You two don't share any resemblance what-so-ever." I mentally compared to him to Patrick. They were around the same height and had the same build, but other than that, there was very little resemblance indeed.

"Yeah. Now, Uncle Patrick, Loor, and Courtney had something to tell us once I found you. I'm excited to hear what it is. Maybe I'll finally get in on the action!" I searched his face in wonder. That was exactly how I had felt back home. Smiling, I shook my head and silently followed him up the stairs and into the library. We passed the book exhibit and entered the room where Patrick, Loor, Zachin, and Courtney were waiting. Alex and I took our seats next to Zachin.

"Kids," Patrick said. He, Courtney, and Loor stood up and faced us. "We have one more territory to visit. That's where Saint Dane is. This was just a meeting place." Zachin and Alex nodded. I just stared.

"Also," said Courtney. "We have some sad news. Pendragon was killed helping Tara get here. Until we have a new one, Loor will be acting as lead Traveler." I felt Alex's penetrating blue eyes on me. I hung my head in shame. I should have mentioned it before. Instead, I looked at Zachin. He was staring at Loor intently. I realized they were silently conveying their feelings. I had no idea what they were saying to one another.

"So what territory is this that we're going to?" I asked to save face.

"Morvain," said Loor.

"Is there anything special we should know about this Morvain place?"

"Saint Dane is there; therefore, we need to be there," she stated calmly. Erm, I wanted to be the _last_ place Saint Dane was gonna be, but I guess it's our job to fight him. To keep him from commiting more cold-blooded murders. The more I thought about it, the more right it felt to be there with those people. I'd never believed in destiny, but right there in that moment, it felt right. Courtney flashed us all that steely smile.

"Are you guys ready to go?" she asked us. The three of us looked at each other and nodded. I think we all realized at that moment that we were meant to be a team. We smiled at each other. Everyone stood up to leave. I half expected everyoen to stack hands and shout "Go, Travelers, go!" or something equally ridiculous. But we didn't.

Patrick tossed a key ring at Alex once we were outside. He, Courtney, and Loor headed towards his car. Alex, Zachin, and I made our way to a red car that looked a lot like Patrick's had. Alex hopped into the driver's seat, and Zachin politely stood aside so I could ride up front.

Once we were all seated, Zachin started to look anxious. "These car things make me nervous," he confided to us. I twisted to face him.

"You mean you don't have cars where you come from?" I asked, incredulous.

He shook his head. "The closest thing we have is a dygo. Our territories are very different."

I stared at him blankly. "What's a dygo?"

Alex laughed long and hard. "See?" he managed between bursts of laughter. Zachin and I looked at each other and began laughing, too. The three of us sat in Alex's car and laughed for fifteen minutes straight.

Finally, we managed to drive out of the parking lot. One of us would occasionally let out a small giggle, which would send the other two into hysterics again. Eventually, we reached the subway station. Patrick, Courtney, and Loor waited for us impatiently.

"What took so long?" Courtney asked us. Not suprisingly, all she got was hysterical laughter for a response. The adults just stared at us in shock, which of course made us laugh harder. I put my one arm around each of their shoulders, and we walked towards the flume together. I could tell that these guys were going to be great friends and people to work with. We made our way down the subway/monorail tracks without incident.

It was time for my second flume ride.

Hopefully, I wouldn't think as much on this one. I would probably just laugh.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Sorry, this is another short chapter. But I hit number ten! Whoot!!! Oh, and by the way, I have a poll on my profile about this story. Vote if you care!**

**Disclaimer: How many times do I have to tell you? I do not own Pendragon. However, DJ MacHale did reply to my email!**

**Claimer: Tara, Alex, Zachin, and the territory of Morvain--excluding the name which came from Porping243.**

* * *

Loor informed us that three people in a flume would be a bit snug. But she still didn't want us to ride alone. So I, the smallest, rode with Alex, the largest except for Patrick. Well, I take that back. Loor was pretty ripped. The six of us stood in the flume's mouth.

"Morvain?" Alex asked to make sure he'd gotten it right. Loor nodded. Alex and I stepped into the flume. He grabbed my hand, and I blushed and stared at him. He looked embarassed too.

"Physical contact is needed..." he muttured. I nodded, though I wasn't any less embarassed. "Would you do the honors?" he asked me with a small smile.

"Morvain!" I shouted loudly. I felt a tugging coming from the heart of the flume, and a light was approaching Alex and I. In the next second, we were lifted up and pulled into the tunnel. Now that I knew that I wasn't going to die, the flume ride was a lot more fun.

"Check this out!" Alex cried. He did a zero-G flip, and I laughed. I had the feeling he was trying to impress me. Sadly, it was working. Or maybe not so sadly. Even though I'd only known him for a few hours, he seemed like a great guy. However, if Saint Dane was going to be involved, things were going to get really bad, really fast. It didn't seem like the best time to start a relationship.

"What?" he asked, flipping that same, persistant lock of hair out of his eyes.

"What what?"

"You were staring at me weird." Heh-heh, whoops. Yeah, my bad.

"No I wasn't." Good strategy, Tara. Deny like crazy. Oh, no, I wasn't thinking about our future after two hours of knowing you.

"Yeah, you were." Good job, Alex. Argue like heck. Thanks.

"Whatever. Show me how you did that flip." So with that complete and total subject change, things proceeded as normal. The arguement was forgotten. By him, at least. He taught me how to turn a flip while floating behind the light. Can you think of a weirder situation than that? I can't, but I have a bad feeling that a lot of weird--and not necessarily good weird--situations are in my future. That was making me think. I hoped I could come home soon, Hannah. I missed you a lot right then. I still do.

"Almost there," Alex said, his voice jolting me out of my thoughts. He carefully studied my face. "The flumes do that you know."

"Do what?"

"Make you think. Every Traveler that I've talked to said that it happens to them," he said very calmly.

"And just how many Travelers have you talked to?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"Erm, two..."

"That's what I thought," I said with a small chuckle.

"I would've talked to more if I'd met more!" he protested. The flume set us down in a flash of light.

"Whatever, dude."

"Did you just call me dude?"

"Why I believe I just did!" I shouted. We stared at each other for a long moment. I believe that that was the most ridiculous semi-arguement I'd ever been in. I saw in his eyes that he agreed. I mentally dared him to laugh first. I could tell he was doing the same thing. I'd like to think that I would have held out the longest--except Patrick and Courtney came through the flume.

"Are we interrupting anything?" asked Patrick coolly. Alex and I jumped about ten feet apart. We had only been standing a few inches away from each other, and to an outsider it could have looked like we were about to--I don't know--kiss or something.

I could tell that Courtney was smothering a laugh. Of course, at that moment, Loor and Zachin had to arrive in their own light show. Zachin's eyes darted around the tunnel--no doubt drinking in every detail. I had a feeling that he's a lot more intelligent than he lets on.

"We are ready to go?" Loor asked us. It was really more of a command than a question. Blushing, I walked next to Courtney--as far from Alex as possible. _Great._

The flume opened up into a giant cavernous cave. There were six pairs of clothing on the floor. The pants were made of a soft, dark material that felt a lot like cotton. The shirts were made of the same material in different colors. I was very pleased that I didn't have to wear a skirt. The guys grabbed their clothes and walked to the other side of the cave. We turned our backs to each other and changed. The clothes were very comfortable, and fit well.

My shirt was a navy blue color; Courtney's was yellow; Loor's was a pale lavender; Patrick's was a burnt orange color; Zachin's was gray; and Alex's was red. Everybody had black pants. We all looked pretty spiffy, if I might say. The only problem was I had no idea what the territory behind the clothing was.

Was it advenced technilogicaly? Was it primitive? Were dinosaurs running around like crazy? That thought scared the crap out of me. I sure hoped it was like home.

Only problem was, I had no way of knowing.

At least not until I stepped outside.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Sorry, this is a mostly conversation driven chapter. You'll get what I mean when you read on. Remember to vote for my poll, so far me naming the chapters is in the lead.**

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"Before we get started, there's a little something about Morvain you guys should know," Patrick said. Zachin, who had been reaching for the door, slowly put his arm down. He backed up and stood next to me.

"Didn't Tara already ask about this?" he asked, confused.

"Well, yeah," said Courtney. "But we were afraid you were going to turn around and leave." Umm, huh? Did I just hear right.

"Gotta go!" said Alex, turning around and heading back into the flume. As he passed by me, I grabbed his shirt sleeve. He turned to face me, and I shook my head. He gently led me away from the others. "Didn't you just hear what she said?" he asked me in a whisper so the others couldn't hear. "Don't you want to leave?"

"Yeah, I did just hear what she said," I said softly. "But we didn't hear the whole thing."

"Who cares? She didn't tell us because it was so bad that we'd not want to go through with this! Aren't you panicked at all? Don't you get it? We are in serious danger!"

"You think I don't know that! I saw two men murdered _right in front of me! _For _me_! I am not going to let that monster get away with that!" Only then did I realize that I'd been yelling. I looked at everyone. Zachin and Alex just looked shocked. The expression on Loor's face was harder to read. But Patrick and Courtney's emotions were easier to see. They were obviously very proud of my words. Great. That did a fat lot of good for Uncle Pendragon and Mark.

I turned back to Alex and continued at a more normal volume, "I don't want their deaths to be in vain. If you want to leave, fine, but I'm staying." I'm proud to say that my voice barely shook.

I rejoined the others. Suprisingly, Courtney wrapped me in a big hug. I felt the tears I had been struggling to hold back attempting to break free. I hugged her back tightly. I was simply overwhelmed by all the emotions I'd felt in the last six hours. Regretfully, I let her go and wiped away the tears that were gathering in my eyes.

"So what is the big secret about Morvain?" asked Zachin gently. I shot him a greatful look for changing the subject. He smiled at me and winked.

"Morvain is perhaps the most odd territory of them all," Patrick said. "It is technilogically advanced, but has primitive weaponry--"

"Meaning?" Alex asked. He moved over to stand next to Zachin. I attempted to give him a smile, but the outcome was pathetic and watery.

"The people of Morvain fight with swords and bows and arrows. A few use staves and spears," said Loor. I had a feeling that she knew a lot about weapons. She had the cool discipline of a trained warrior.

"So they are like the weapons back home?" Zachin asked.

"Very close," she replied.

"May I continue?" Patrick asked. He sounded impatient. I guessed he didn't like to be interrupted. Who does? When we all nodded, Patrick continued his explination of the territory of Morvain. "About twenty years back, a few scientists experimented with mind control." This shocked me. Who wanted to control somebody else's mind? Well, sickos, but that was beside the point. "Unfortunately, they were a little too successful. They created a chip which, once planted, would give the leader complete control of whoever recieved it."

Alex, Zachin, and I exchanged shocked glances. "Everyone is in danger here. We must be very careful about what we ingest here. The microchips are often planted in food."

"Not to be vulgar here, but won't it--um--come out of the other end?" Alex asked.

"It plants itself in your bloodstream." Oh, that would be how.

"Now that we have warned the new Travelers, can we go now?" Loor asked, tapping her foot. She was obviously a take-action kind of girl. Good, I had a feeling that we were going to need that. Courtney and Patrick walked purposefully forward. Loor feel in just behind them, but Alex, Achin and I hung back.

"Are we ready for this," hissed Zachin.

"No," I said honestly. "But we don't have a choice. For some reason, we were chosen, so we've gotta do it." Zachin nodded, and hurried to catch up to his mother. That left Alex and I standing in the flume together.

"Sorry," he said, placing a hand gently on my arm. I placed mine over his.

"It's okay. I was just angry with you. You haven't seen what I've seen," I told him.

"No, I haven't. And I should have remembered that, too. Can you accept my apology?" he begged with his amazing blue eyes wide.

"How could I not?"

* * *

So, Hannah, this seems like a good place to end my first journal. I am currently freaking out. You would too after being shot across the universe.

I love you, girl. I hope I can see you soon.

* * *

**A/N: The next chapter will be from Hannah's POV. Review, please.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Can you find the pattern in my updates? I sure can't! I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: (looks at legal papers) Nope, it's still not mine.**

**Claimer: Hannah, Tara, Alex, Zachin, and Morvain. Please, at least ask before you use them.**

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Hannah stared in wonder at the pages before her. She didn't understand what they were or where they came from. She would have dismissed it for a prank, but she knew she couldn't. Not very easily anyway. But the style--that was all Tara. Hannah sat in silence for a long time. Eventually, she heard her mom getting up for her 5:30 jog. Hannah shook her head and tried to get ready for school. It was much too early, but she needed something to do. She almost left the room without the ring, but after a minute of hard thought, she placed it on the index finger of her left hand. 

She got ready much too early so she cooked breakfast for her mom and dad. She didn't want to eat, but she wanted to keep her hands busy. Unfortunately, frying eggs didn't keep her mind busy either. Her parents must have noticed there was something wrong. Hannah waved off their concerned questions by saying that she wasn't feeling well. She gladly accepted their suggestion that she should stay home. She had something she wanted to do.

Hannah waited until her parents had gone to work to come back downstairs. She grabbed the keys to her car and ran out to the driveway. Her car was nothing special. It was a navy blue used Avalon that her parents had gotten her for her sweet-sixteen. Hannah liked it though. It got her where she needed to be. Hannah climbed into her car and drew a shaky breath. She placed the key in the ignition. She had no need to be nervous, she told herself. With hands that shook she turned the key.

Hannah drove mechanically, not really paying attention. She knew the route like the back of her hand. She had always ridden her bike before she got a car. It wasn't very far. She tried to smile at the people she passed, but it was difficult. Her best friend had supposedly been shot across the universe. She might not even be in their universe. She suddenly realized she had arrived. Hannah pulled up to the sidewalk and gasped.

Hannah pushed the car door open roughly and stumbled out. Tara's house was gone. Not there. A barren dirt lot had been left in the place of the beautiful two-story brick house. There was no Mrs. Lence on the porch asking her why she had skipped school. Tara wasn't there telling her that she was stupid for believing in the prank. Hannah sank to her knees in the middle of the lot and sobbed. She was completely overwhelmed. Gasping, she eventually was able to stand. Hannah methodically searched the lot for any trace that Tara had once lived there. There was none.

Finally, Hannah reached the middle of the lot was forced to accept that her best friend was gone. Tara really had been to the future. She really was in a place called Morvain. Speaking of Morvain, Hannah was a little miffed that Tara hadn't explained what the territory was like before ending her journal. That forced Hannah to contemplate another aspect of Tara's journal.

Two men had died to protect Tara. There was no way around that. Hannah didn't believe in violence. She did her best to avoid it at all costs. She knew that she had been called a wimp before because Tara had always fought her battles, but the two girls knew the truth and that was all that mattered. But to hear that Tara was involved in that crap made Hannah's blood run cold.

Hannah turned slowly in a circle, the stiff breeze blowing her blonde hair around her face. Suddenly struck by an idea, she blinked rapidly for at least a minute. Tara's house didn't appear. Hannah sighed and trudged back to her car. She hadn't expected it to work anyway.

The car had been left stalling. Hannah sighed, thinking of all the gas she had wasted. Great, this'll cost me thirty bucks at the pump, she thought grimly. Because her day hadn't been bad enough to begin with. Suddenly, Hannah was overcome with uncontrolable anger. She kicked the car tire as hard as she could, but she only stubbed her toe. Muttering darkly, she jumped into her car and drove off. Hannah circled town many times, unable to force herself to go home. The sight of the ring on her finger would get her worked up all over again.

Why Tara? she thought. Tara was completely normal. True, Tara went above and beyond to help when she could, but she also had her faults. Tara was extremly arrogant and proud at times. Not all the time, but she definately had that streak. Then again, Tara wasn't like anyone she had ever met before. That arrogance was balanced by compassion and a need to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. Did it just happen, or was Tara actually chosen for this Traveler gig? Hannah didn't know what to believe.

Eventually, she had to drive home because her parents would be returning from work. Hannah hid in her room and pretended to be sick when her parents got home. The rest of the day went on, and she was able to think more clearly. The next day, Hannah returned to school. When people asked her where Tara was, it was all Hannah could do to politely reply that she didn't know. The days wore on, and the weekend was a welcome relief.

At least until Saturday night, that is. Hannah was struggling through her trig homework when it happened. She felt a twitching on her left finger. She absentmindedly scratched at it when she realized her ring was growing.

"Oh crap," she muttered and laid the ring down on the desk. The ring grew to the size of a frisbee and radiated a blinding light. Hannah closed her eyes, and when she opened them, another stack of papers was on the desk. Without looking, Hannah knew that Tara's next journal had arrived. Eagerly, she grabbed the pages and began to read.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Sorry this took me so long to write. I'm battling writer's block right now. So that explains why it took me so long to write such a short chapter. I know this is disappointing, and I'm sorry.**

* * *

Hannah, you're going to read some really weird stuff in this journal. And I mean freaky-blow-your-mind-oh-my-God-did-I-just-read-that weird.Yeah, it's that bad. Well, when I left my first journal off, I was in the flume to Morvain, and I had completely freaked out on Alex. I have seen the future, Hannah. That's even more scary now that I wrote it down. I've seen the future. Woah...

But as amazing as the year 5043 was, Morvain is just as an unusual experience. I guess you want me to stop rambling and just get on with the story, huh? Alright, here goes.

* * *

I dashed off after Zachin so as not to be left behind. Alex was right on my heels. Zachin smiled at me, his white teeth a brilliant flash against his dark skin. The adults didn't look back at us, but walked purposefully ahead to a small door set a yard above the ground. Patrick reached up and yanked on a knob. The door swung inward towards us, and he stepped up and through. Loor and Courtney quickly went through after him. Urgency rolled off them in waves.

I stared at the three foot ledge. Everyone else stepped up with ease. I, on the other hand was a good six inches shorter than Courtney who was the shortest of _them_. The ledge was a lot bigger of a deal for me than for them. I quickly calculated how high I would need to jump as Alex and Zachin pushed ahead of me. I bent my knees and mentally prepared myself. Alex, obviously recognizing my problem, offered a hand down.

"Need a lift, m'lady?" he asked, his eyes smiling.

"Oh, how nice. They still have a sense of humor three thousand years in the future," I said sarcastically but still took the proffered hand. He lifted me up and over the ledge, the tendons in his arm bulging.

"Of course we do. It's also nice to see that they have a sense of sarcasm three thousand years in the past." I looked around us, and saw that we were in a long stone hallway. There were torches set at regular intervals along the wall. Only half of them were lit, so those that were sent long shadows all the way down the corridor. It was a very ominous feeling overall.

"Shut up," I said pushing his shoulder lightly with a smile. We caught up to Zachin, and the three of us, in turn, managed to catch up to the adults' long, purposeful strides.

"Alright, what's up with you?" Alex asked Patrick. Patrick didn't answer. Patrick didn't even turn around.

"We need to get to our safe house as quickly as possible," Loor said after a few minutes of quick walking for them. I say for them because I had to jog to keep up. It took us a good twenty minutes to get to the end of the hallway. There was a large wooden door at the end. It all looked very midevil until I saw the door handle. There was a sleek metal handle with a touch-screen numeric keypad. Patrick quickly stepped up to the door and punched in a six digit password.

The door unlocked with a hissing sound and cracked inward. Loor pushed it the rest of the way inward, and she stepped through. Patrick and Courtney quickly followed. I rubbed the back of my neck unfomfortably. I was about to get my first taste of Morvain. I was completely afraid of what I was about to see. The ominous words "safe house" still rang in my mind. I was so unaware of just how needed that safe house would be.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: No, I didn't die. I know it's been super long. You can thank writer's block for that. Hey, this chapter's superlong to make up for it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pendragon or anything recognizable.**

**Claimer: I do own any unrecognizable character, place, object, whatever. The list is too long to type out now.**

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Loor took the lead and ushered us through a cavernous, circular room. It was bare except for these odd chairs lining the walls. The chairs were a tarnished metal, yet they had the design of straight-backed chairs from the Dark Ages. I saw Zachin staring oddly at the ceiling. I glanced upwards and was completely shocked. There was none. The sky was overcast and grey. It looked like it was going to rain any second. I wished for a hood.

We hugged the walls as we made our way through the room. I noticed that the center was just slightly raised above the chairs. I couldn't figure out what the room was for, although religious rituals seemed like a good possibilites. Loor slipped through another large door much like the first. This one didn't have a keypad, though. Courtney followed on Loor's heels. Patrick stopped us, though.

"You're about to enter the city of Lamdon. It's the capital of Talley, which is a prominant kingdom in Morvain," he whispered so low I could barely hear him. "I just want you to be careful, and whatever happens _stay together_." The three of us nodded solemnly and left the odd room and into Lamdon.

My first impression of the city was that it was unique. There were large, grey buildings everywhere. But that wasn't the unusual part; that was the way people were dressed. Some were dressed in simple black pants and solid shirts like us. But others looked like they stepped right out of a Renaisance Faire. No lie. The midieval clothing combined with the modern-looking not-quite-skyscrapers was rather unnerving. Alex and Zachin looked a little taken aback as well. Also, Loor and Zachin's dark skin stood out here. There were African-Americans, but not many.

Wait... I'm not in America anymore. Guess I'm gonna have to call them black, and you know I hate doing that, Hannah. But I digress; back to the story.

I felt like a little kid again. I wanted my mom there to hold my hand. We were never close, but she was there for me most of the time. I wanted you there, Hannah. I felt very small in a very large city.

"What's the population here?" Alex asked no one in particular.

"A little under seven-hundred fifty thousand," was Patrick's prompt answer. Alex nodded, digesting the information.

Loor set off purposefully again. Luckily, she was going with the crowd. These people looked just as rude as New Yorkers. I only went to NYC once when I was thirteen, and it significantly improved my vocabulary to say the least. I tried to stay close behind one of the guys--or even Loor--so I wouldn't have to cut my own path. Places like crowded sidewalks are just not meant for short people.

After what felt like a few miles, we finally stopped in front of _yet another_ big, grey building. It blended in with its surroundings to say the least. I was going to get lost here, I could already tell.

"Home, sweet, home," Courtney muttered sarcastically under her breath. I felt a knot form in the pit of my stomach. "We have three apartments we can use here. Guys in one; girls in the other; the other will be our HQ. Got it?"

"Got it!" I chirped cheerfully to lighten the mood. I felt five pairs of eyes settle on me heavily. I immediately regretted it.

"Sorry..." I muttered, hanging my head, my shoulders slumping. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Zachin hiding a smile, his tough exterior breaking.

"Let us go in," Loor said, her face hard completely unlike her son's. Loor passed through the--wait for it--grey door. The lobby was a boring beige. Did this territory have something against color? Loor nodded once at a bored looking door man. He was in a brown and beige uniform that blended in with the room quite well. Even his sandy blonde hair blended in. Was this the problem? Everyone blending in?

Loor pushed through to a stairwell in the back. It was grey stone. I rolled my eyes at it. We stopped on the third floor. Now Patrick took the lead. It was odd to watch how the adults seemed to be a perfect team. Courtney a little less so, but still. I wondered what it would have looked like if Uncle Pendragon was there. My eyes filled with tears I refused to shed. As Patrick worked with another keypad, Alex placed a gentle hand on my shoulder.

"You okay?" he whispered. I nodded once, convincing him as much as myself. Alex squeezed my shoulder once before following Patrick out the door. When did it open? I left the stairwell completely confused.

Our apartments were right next to the stairs which could be very usefull. Patrick opened yet another keypad lock.

"The combination is 4-0-3-1. Same for all the doors," he told us over his shoulder as he opened the door. I repeated the numbers over and over again in my head so I wouldn't forget them.

"You guys wait in here while we get the other rooms ready, okay?" Courtney asked us, still tense.

"Okay," Alex answered for all of us. I entered the room first. I guessed this was going to be the HQ because there were no beds. Unfortunately, this room had been done up in that same ugly beige and brown color scheme. But I smiled when I saw some one had placed a beautiful, bright red flower in a vase on one of the end tables. That one little flower brightened the whole room. Alex pushed past me and dramatically threw himself onto one of the beige, suade couches. Was it suade? Do they have suade on Morvain?

"My feet are killing me!" Alex complained throwing his feet over one of the armrests.

"Suck it up," I said, plopping down on an easy chair across from the couch. Zachin perched on the armrest of the chair.

"Oh, hey, Tara. Heads up. Do not tell us your last name," Alex told me.

"Why not?"

"Because that's what a majority of the Travelers will call you." I frowned. I was not a big fan of the name Lence.

"Thanks."

"It's custom on our territory, Tara." Zachin's voice was a low baritone.

"Still I don't want to be called L-- by my last name."

The three of us talked for a while. Zachin moved a loveseat over to where we were so he would be more comfortable. I guess we fell asleep because the next thing I knew, the room was dark and a shaft of moonlight fell across my face.


End file.
